To think we can't afford the triple lock

[paddleboardingmum]

Things seem very weighted against young people right now in terms of tax, student loans, and then there's the cost of mortgages and childcare. I know there are some older people struggling and I do feel sorry for them. But plenty are not and I think we just can't afford the triple lock at the moment. AIBU

No, but the fact that the system is unsustainable means it'll have to be completely overhauled at some point, or abolished.

Not something people should assume will happen, wish for, or expect.

Youve misread my post - no government has said this and I think it would be a very difficult message to deliver for the reasons I gave.

However, I (and most of my contemporaries) do not believe we will get a state pension. Either retirement age will be increased to something unrealistic or itll be means-tested.

Obviously, I REALLY hope I am wrong and I’ll be delighted if I am. I just can’t see where the money will come from.

[Im nearly 50 so not “young” by anyone’s definition. I think my generation is probably the last who’ve had a fair chance in terms of employment and housing.]

Many tax payers are pensioners.

You all can't go on about wealthy pensioners without recognising that if they are that wealthy, they'll be paying more tax than you. STILL.

I'm a pensioner, one of the 1.4 million who survive purely on the state pension and who have no other pensions/saving etc. I also rent and do not own an asset like my own home. All those complaining about the triple lock should try surviving on between £12,000-£13,000 per year.

Having said that, there are far more pensioners who have plenty of money, their own home plus savings, and so I can understand how young families who are stretched and struggling feel resentful.

I would be totally in favour of means testing for the state pension, I do believe those who have large private pensions and other savings/assets should not also be getting the state pension. As there are approx 12 million pensioners in the UK (figure varies according to source) that should really save the government some much needed money.

• Keep the triple lock.
• Increase the number of years NI required for a full state pension from 35 to 40 for anyone currently more than 5 years from SPA (as presumably if they have already reduced/stopped working, they weren't planning on living on State Pension Alone).
• Inform all pensioners that from 2030 (to allow for financial planning) State Pension will be tapered akin to universal credit, eg you lose 55p of state pension for every pound you receive in additional income (including interest on savings, unearned income, and other pension income) once you exceed 100% of the state pension amount. So someone entitled to a full state pension, receiving £12,500 from other sources would keep the entirety of their state pension. Someone receiving an extra £30k income would receive £2950 pa state pension. Someone receiving £35k income from other sources receives no state pension. Universal credit applies a deduction for any savings/capital over £6000. Given they have likely saved for later life and it would be unreasonable to penalise them for this, set a savings cap of £35k, excluding any property in which they reside. Deduct £4.35 a month for every £250 of savings/capital they have over £35k. Allow a 5 year disregard for any equity freed up from a house move to incentivise downsizing and freeing up housing stock.

Meanwhile...
Remove freeze on earnings limits on student loans, and reduce interest rate. Any graduate working full time in a public sector role for 10 years, where the degree was a pre-requisite for employment, who is not yet earning £50k a year, has their student loan forgiven.

Stop the additional 15 hours for working parents, leaving it at the 15 universal hours, removing the cliff edge for parents with one high earning parent. Increase the amount paid to nurseries for these hours, to keep them open and increase numbers of spaces.
Introduce a childcare loan, allowing parents to access funds for early years childcare and repay this over a number of years to reduce the immediate burden and avoid one parent stopping work to provide childcare. Reduce the non-repayable childcare support through universal credit and direct these to the childcare loan, to recoup some of the funds.

Allow a LISA-style savings account for those claiming universal credit that is exempt from the savings/capital deduction, on the provision it can only be used for a house deposit. This can only be released to a solicitor (like the LISA) to maintain its immunity, and if requested to be withdrawn for any other purposes, the compound deduction due is calculated and taken back before releasing any residual funds to the holder. As someone living in social housing, I would love to be able to save for a mortgage but the impact the savings would have on my income means I would be stuck yo-yoing, saving, the spending it to offset the drop in earnings, and repeat.

Require all UC claims to be countersigned by a professional known to the family in the way a passport photo is. Their role is not to have oversight of their financial position, but instead to verify the living arrangements are accurate, to avoid fraudulent single claims.

For the record, I'm in my 30s, have previously worked in pensions and now work in the public sector. I worked full time since I left school at 19, other than my 2 maternity leaves, and when I went to uni to retrain in my 20s, as a single mum (through no fault of my own, I should add!) I worked part time throughout my studies.

I'm now working in the public sector, have £100k of student debt and rising daily. Despite working in a graduate field I am still reliant on UC top up. I have no assets to speak of, and next to no savings. I continue to be amazed at how the UC credit is so quick to give in some regards (I could claim 85% of any childcare fees with no requirement to repay, although I don't as they are only in wraparound care at school so it's affordable) yet so poor at encouraging self improvement (if I was able to save for a house, I wouldn't receive any housing element, so they would save in the long run). Likewise, I am due to start a new job and have opted to go part time, becuase dropping one day a week means a net loss of income of £114 a month, when you factor in the fact I drop a contribution band for my pension, will stop paying student loan, and UC are deducting 55% of the extra I'd earn from my award. I love my job, have a strong work ethic, and would like to work full time, but the childcare and commuting costs alone for those extra days would cost me more than the £114, and I can't justify the impact it has on my work/life balance for my kids if I'm financially worse off.

Pensioners need to acknowledge the system they paid into was based on parameters that don't apply to them (life expectancy, etc) and concede that changes can be fair, and there simultaneously needs to be a shift from the help being offered to working/young families being given free stuff with a cliff edge of entitlement, towards temporary support that eases cash flow to keep parents in work, without it placing a significant burden on public funds

I suspect we'll be moving to a universal basic income in the not to distant future and this question will be rendered moot. Mainly through the incoming AI takeover - assuming we don't all die - and the mass consolidation of wealth to fewer and fewer individuals. I imagine private ownership will effectively disappear - in increasing waves over coming generations - and everything will simply be rented - cars, homes, access to water, entertainment etc.

I'm not going on about wealthy pensioners. Yes, if they have an income above the personal allowance, they'll pay income tax at their marginal rate. If they dispose of assets resulting in a chargeable gain above the annual exemption, they'll pay Capital Gains Tax. I am arguing against a previous poster who suggested a special triple locked personal allowance, exclusively for pensioners, which is outrageous.

Do all the young people on this thread work hours outwith the 9am - 5pm?

What happens when it is abolished? Old people begging in the streets? Selling clothes pegs?

Depends where you live regarding house prices.

The state pension will exceed the personal allowance from next April. They give with one hand and take with the other.

What does the thread have to do with baby boomers?

No I think we can not have old people surviving on nothing.

Forget about "low compared to an average full time wage", it's bloody low in and of itself, as an amount to live on! It's not "high as a starting point" for anything disingenuous, much? The fact that it's high enough to be taxed doesn't mean it's high, because, y'know, fiscal draaaaag 😉. Do you really object to pensioners who've worked for 40 years, and contributed throughout, being paid £1000 a month? Jeez!

But they won't be paying NIC, won't be having student loan deductions taken, won't be suffering high child care costs, and if they'd bought their home a few decades ago, won't be suffering the ruinously high housing costs. So their "deductions" are likely to be a lot lower than a younger worker even if their income is similar.

The birth rate may have dropped, but the population has continued to grow, mainly due to immigration.

For example, In 2024 net migration was over 16 times the net birth rate.

Well, they'll take c.£97 of a £489.33 increase. It frustrates me how suddenly frozen thresholds are an issue now that the state pension exceeds the personal allowance. It has been frozen since 2021 and will have been frozen 10 years minimum. It really isn't those in receipt of the state pension that have been rinsed here.

The thing with being retired is that unlike work you can’t just recoup the money. I would also point out that most retired people have paid taxes all their lives.I would be interested to know which costs more, pensions or people claiming benefits.

Billionaires are leaving the UK at unprecedented rates exactly because the tax burden is skewed so heavily towards the wealthy.

The UK can’t (currently) tax non-residents….

Hardly. The income tax on a tiny proportion of the state pension will be a tiny amount owed. It's not as if it's a cliff edge where suddenly tax becomes due on the entirety of the state pension or a high marginal rate unlike other cliff edges.

But anyway, pretty sure the government have said "something" will be done to stop anyone having to pay income tax if their only income is the basic state pension, so they're either going to raise the personal allowance for everyone or, yet again, bring in a special allowance/dispensation for pensioners only!

I think it is an excellent starting point. If you have not saved anything else, then I don't think you deserve any more off the tax payer.

So, for 17 years people paid NI believing the promise of the triple lock, i think it dishonourable and unfair to renege on that promise.
Are you saying a state pension of 31.5% of median wage is a bad thing or unreasonabel?
Figures ive seen suggest nearer to 28% but even 31.5% seems very low compared to other western countries.

The benefits bill is split higher for pensioners, so pensioners as a group DO claim more benefits than non pensioners in total.

But if we means tested the state pension then no one would save. They would spend their money when they were young.